Using human-robot interaction to assess emotion recognition in dialysis patients: A preliminary study.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Nephrology

Background:

• Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects numerous physiological systems, potentially impacting cognitive and emotional processing.
• Assessing socio-emotional deficits in medically vulnerable populations requires innovative and sensitive methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between psychological factors (alexithymia, anxiety, depression) and multimodal emotion recognition in CKD patients.
• To evaluate the utility of a humanoid robot as a novel tool for assessing emotion recognition in this population.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional observational study involving 60 adult CKD patients undergoing dialysis.
• Emotion recognition was assessed using Ekman facial expressions, dynamic video clips, and a NAO humanoid robot.
• Psychological factors were measured using validated scales for alexithymia (TAS-20), anxiety (GAD-7), and depression (PHQ-9).

Main Results:

• Age and alexithymia negatively predicted emotion recognition, particularly in video and robot-based tasks.
• Anxiety positively predicted recognition of happiness and fear in static facial tasks.
• Robot-based emotion recognition was influenced by age and dialysis duration.

Conclusions:

• Alexithymia and age are key factors in reduced emotion recognition among CKD patients.
• Socially assistive robots offer a promising avenue for detecting subtle socio-emotional processing alterations in vulnerable patient groups.
• Findings support future longitudinal research integrating technological and psychological assessments for improved patient care.